“Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.”
The great Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman not only remains a transformational perspective but also one that is relevant as much as, if not more than, ever before.
Yesterday, an announcement from the Odisha Government and a speech from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself at a conference were pleasantly reminiscent of those timeless words from the Father of the Nation.
The Biju Janata Dal government’s decision to implement Sahaya – a welfare scheme for beggars across Odisha, under which rehabilitation centres for beggars have been already set up in the Khordha and Sambalpur districts, funds sanctioned for the establishment of similar centres in Rourkela, Ganjam and Dhenkanal, and a proposal for one such in Cuttack currently under consideration – is not only an ode to Gandhiji’s talisman but also the ultimate testament to the five-time Chief Minister’s commitment to all-round development of his state by ensuring a better future even for its poorest of the poor.
This is a reflection as well as a consequence of good governance in Odisha, about which the Chief Minister impressively articulated later in the day at the valedictory session of regional conference on replication of good governance practices in the state capital of Bhubaneswar.
Stating that good governance is the greatest tool of transformation, he said people’s satisfaction with the delivery of government services “must be taken seriously and used as the benchmark for initiating change”.
As he elaborated on essential constituents of good governance, such as accountability, competency building, strategy-goal alignment, ethics and integrity and well-defined roles and responsibilities, the Chief Minister placed “a pro-people approach” to all government action above everything else.
He has for long been walking that talk with the “Mo Sarkar” initiative, the Odisha One portal, the Odisha Right to Public Services Act, OSWAS (Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System), Bhubaneswar Land Use Information System, among numerous schemes implemented by his government over the past two decades that address the concerns of communities and sectors from all walks in his state.
Contrast that with what the state Opposition has been doing of late.
Despite the Chief Minister’s express assurance that his government is committed to delivering justice in the Mamita Meher murder case, the Opposition seems determined to derail the Winter Session of the Odisha Assembly.
Supporting the sprinkling of ‘Ganga Jal’ and cow urine inside the Assembly Hall yesterday only confirmed that. If anything, it undermined the seriousness that the Opposition wishes to project in its protest demanding the dismissal of Minister of State Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged – but yet unsubstantiated – links with the prime accused in the murder case.
Despite their vested interests, they need to realise one thing that the public already knows and the Chief Minister is never in doubt about: Allowing the law to take its due course is also integral to good governance.
Comment here